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Topic: Tales of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Read 5134 times)

I was putting some of this info that I've been storing up in my head for the last year or so on the 2000AD Review website recently, and to be honest it was quite a relief to get it all out.

Anyway, I though I might try and collect the info here, and see if anyone else has picked up on any details that I missed.

The following was mostly gleaned from the first two volumes of the series, particularly the text pieces, but also from various interviews with writer Alan Moore, artist Kevin O'Neil and editor Scott Dunbier conducted over the last year:

SPOILER

-The title of Volume Three will be Tales of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

-It's six issues split into four different stories: *the first deals with the earliest League, headed by Prospero, Duke of Milan from Shakepseare's The Tempest *the second with the group headed by Lemuel Gulliver, ships surgeon from Johnathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels *the third with the second incarnation of the Victorian League, headed by Mina Murray *the fourth should include the 1950's league.

-The firt story, apart from Prospero, should also include Ariel and Caliban, and mysterious travellar Christian - from 'elsewhere' - and deal with the dissapearance of Christian, and the subsequen dissapearance of the rest of the League when attampting to reach 'The Blazing World'.This will be a single issue.

-The second will feature the League seen in a picture in the British Museum in Volume One, consisting of Gulliver, Mr. & Mrs. Blakeny (The Scarlet Pimpernel), Natty Bumpo (creation of Jame Fenmore Cooper, writer of Last of the Mohicans), Fanny Hill and the Reverand Dr. Syn (Captain Clegg).This will also be a single issue.

-The third story will be set in the early Twentieth century, before the First World War. This will detail the revived League's battle with their French counterparts, Les Hommes Mysteriux, which should include Jules Verne's Robur, Master of the Air. This team will be headed by Min Murray and a rejuvanated Alan Quatermain (following his trip to Ayesha's 'Pool of Fire', as featured in the book She, also by Henry Rider Haggard) who is now posing as his son Alan (who died in 1888 in Haggard's Alan Quatermain) to explain his youthful appearance. This story should also feature the return (and possible death) of Captain Nemo. The battle will take place in the abandoned underground lair of the Phantom of the Opera, creation of gaston LeRoux, beneath Paris.This should run to three issues.

-The fourth story should deal with the 1950's League, and should feature severall characters from Kerouac, such as Dean Morriaty (who, Moore has said, will be a descendant of James Moriaty) and William Burroughs. It will also feature characters from the Victorian League; probably Quatermain and Murray, as they are now both supposedly immortal (he due to the Ayesha fire trick, she as a relic of her experience with Dracula) and Moore likes using these characters as focal points.

-The theme linking all the stories in the series together is going to be British Intelligence's growing concern with the encroachment into our world with that of the world of fiction, myth and fantasy, as evidenced in Alice in Wonderland, and will link into various other stories, such as that of the 'Blazing World' and underground caverns and cities beneath Scotland, Bedfordshire, Africa and Antarctica.

-The text piece this time will deal fictional historical genealogies, linking various fictional characters in a similar historical familial timeline: for example, from King Arthur in the Dark Ages, to the American King Ralph in the present.

-Miscelanious: the following may or may not appear in this series, but is planned to appear at some point: *a meeting, and possible issue focusing on, Sherlock Holmes during his Kent bee-keeping days *the apperance of sometime League affiliate and sex changing immortal Orlando *a meeting with Randolph Carter in his Arkham home, to deal with some Cthulu-like monstrosities

Below is the only image from the third Volume. This is a cover of Mina Murray and a revitalised Alan Quatermain, circa 1910/11. The image in the (smashed) mirror is of Murray and Quatermain from LOEG Vol. II; issue 2.

yeah, that sounds like reasonable speculation. IIRC Nemo's death is given as 1910/11, so that would tie in nicely. I've presumed "Christian" is the protagonist of "Pilgrim's Progress", but I could be wildly wrong here.

Of course, Affable Al will probably dash all our expectations with some quite brilliant twist we'll kick ourselves for not predicting.

I'm currently working my way through the "travellers Almenac" at the back of LOEG2 (just out in paperback, fact fans!) and it's a delight, Moore seems determined to tie almost every fantasy novel and film ever made into one huge continuum, kinda like a Victorian Pat Mills :)

i recenlty saw a rather wonderful and large LEOG collection in a local comc shop.

i was informed by the ever helpful and knowledgeable staff it was a sort of DVD specail with plently of extras. its about A3 size. two books contained in a box. not to cheap at S$130. i did not ask to browse a copy as i had no intention of trying to explain that purchase to the wife. but it looked damn impressive. i believe its volumes 1 and 2 with lots of extras, interviews. concept sketches and so on.worth a look at if you happen to be in a decent comic shop i would say.

and gonig by the wonderful review posted here. the lastest installments weill once again deliver in spades. sounds perfect doesnt it.

DD - That would have been the Absolute Edition of LOEG Vol 1. The two books are an oversized hardback edition of Volume 1 and a collection of the original scripts, along with a couple of interviews and a sketchbook. I bought a copy when I was in NZ, and it's a lovely package, even if it is ridiculously expensive.

AFAIK, there are no plans at the moment for a similar version of Vol 2 - a shame, as I'd love to have a copy of that in the oversized format.

The absolute Edition is great, even though most of the stuff contained in it is already released. It's the perfect format for something like LOEG, as it reminds of the old British tradition of annuals and gazeteers for children. Plus, you don't get to see Alan Moore's scripts enough (he's quite protective of them, apparently).

You should be able to pick them up for cheaper than the original price now - under ?50, and I know that Forbidden Planet still have some signed by Kevin O'Neil available.

Still, hopefully this'll inspire some people to go back and read the original source material by Wells, Stevenson, Stoker, Conan Doyle, Poe, Verne, Rice-Burroughs, Swift, Kerouac, Shakespeare and Bouroughs.

Well, they were talking about the end of this year, and I think Kevin O'Neil's sticking fairly solidly to the schedule, but I'd think, judging on the eventual release of previous series, that it probably won't be until early/mid next year.

But you never know...

"Amazon have it listed as not published until October 22nd - where'd you get yours?"

It's certainly available in most comic shops (Forbidden Planet, Gosh, etc) but I've also seen it in quite a few bookshops as well (Boarders, Books Etc, Waterstones, etc) so you may need to go out and get it,as Amazon are notoriously slow.

I've read that "Tales of the Extraordinary Gentlemen" will be only 3 of 4 issues long.... and that in Moore's interview, in the annotated "A Blazing World", that there may not be a confrontation with "le hommes Mysterieux" as it would be too predictable and comic-booky and that if he can't think of a good way of doing it, he won't.

There may also be a stand alone extraordinary Gentlemen release in the meantime.

The 50's league won't be until vol. 4 or 5, Moore has already said this.